This invention relates to a room temperature and humidity controller, which is portable and can be used to control different types of heaters, air conditioners, humidifiers, or dehumidifiers, having a temperature sensor, a desired temperature setting mechanism, a temperature controlled switch, a humidity sensor, a desired humidity setting mechanism, a humidity controlled switch,, a transformer, a AC/DC converter, and a relay, all connected and located in a housing.
Temperature controllers such as the thermostat described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,682 have been widely use today. The most common type of temperature controllers is not portable: they are usually mounted on walls.
The other common type of temperature controllers is those that are mounted on the surfaces of heaters or air conditioners. A temperature controller of this type cannot control the temperature of an entire room accurately, because the temperature near the heater or air conditioner can vary widely from the temperatures of the other parts of the room.
Furthermore temperature controllers of the above two types are designed for a particular application: one temperature controller controls a specific heater or air conditioner.
Only few temperature controllers of portable, application independent nature have been patented. A specific reference is given to U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,050, where a housing contains two thermostats. The thermostats are interwired so as enable one thermostat to control a heating operation and the other to control a cooling operation. However, as to be described below, the use of the referred invention is rather limited to applications that have very different objectives than those of the current invention.
It is the first objective of the invention to provide an integrated rated controller can control both temperature and humidity.
It is the second objective of the invention to provide a safe temperature and humidity controller that separates electrical devices and temperature/humidity sensing devices into two compartments, the first compartment surrounded with electrical insulating walls and the second compartment designed to facilitate air circulation.
It is the third objective of the invention to provide a portable temperature and humidity controller that can be moved easily from one room to another.
It is the fourth objective of the invention to provide a temperature and humidity controller that can be placed in the part of a room where the temperature/humidity is of most importance.
It is the fifth objective of the invention to provide a temperature and humidity controller that can be used to control different types of heaters, air conditioners, humidifiers and dehumidifiers.
The main use of the invention is controlling the temperature/humidity of a particular room of importance in a building at a different level than the rest of the building for the purpose of energy saving.